Saturday, 29 January 2011

Wandering away...

Photo taken 01.01.00, Nottinghamshire, England.

So much going on right now... just days till we go and my head has been up and down and all around. I think I am winning the battle for calm in my head though (the war against terror indeed!). Well, sometimes. In an attempt to capture sanity I've been enjoying the clips below courtesy of other people's postings on facebook and blogs. They both feature Tom Waits showing how to really read poems aloud (poems by Charles Bukowski). Even if you've seen them before... maybe watch them again... and most of all listen (the sound! The sound!). I know some people (Colin McGuire...) have been Bukowski fans for ages but it was really only the Waits touch and sound that brought me in to these poems, that sat me down and said 'these are good, these will be good to you'. And they are.

Also we watched the movie 'Into the Wild' (2007, dir. Sean Penn) this week (highly recommended... had forgotten how much I love William Hurt for a start). The movie features a brilliant poem by Sharon Olds (text here) – it's called 'I Go Back to May 1937' (and I had read it before but, unlike Mr Penn, I had forgotten it). The clip with the poem is here - can't embed it, sorry). I like it when movies use poems well and this one really does (and who would have guessed that that young yob Sean Penn would turn into such a real star?). Great music from Eddie Vedder in the film too.

And finally... a mini poem from me for this week's Poetry Bus (task over at NanU's). I did write this over a few days (there was a Thursday but it was so bloody whingey that I'm afraid I just couldn't stand the sight of it and out it went!). Here's what's left.

Outside, outside

on Wednesdaya week stretches out like a tired old inner tubeby Fridaya walk in cold, fresh air can work wonders

RF 2011

So, that's me. As of this coming Wednesday I'll see you on the other side.... here!

Coincidence city! I bought Bukowski's collected poems with my Christmas present book token, the spur being the number of young American men I am with at the moment who reference him all the time. Great Waits.

I think I kept away from Bukowski partly because, having lived a bit of a barfly lifestyle myself for a while, it felt like such a cliche to read him. I was always a bit scared of cliche really... but I have to say that I get less bothered about such things as the years go by! Arse to it really - we likes what we likes.

I spoke to the head before we arranged anything and she was fine with it. We will be making sure daughter remembers what maths is and boring her stiff with endless educational information of course. so she'll probably be glad to get back to her teachers. Most of all she's glad to be missing sports day in the summer (not one for PE!).She'll be back in time for her last year of primary school (which she doesn't want to miss) so it seemed a good time to go. I am a bit tense about the whole thing but I know that will vanish the minute we step onto the other continent!